← Visual Arts syllabus

EnglandVisual Arts

Developing a personal style

3 dot points across 3 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you develop a personal style or voice, and why does OCR reward a personal response over a competent one?

Finding a personal voice: how a personal style emerges from sustained, analytical influence and consistent decisions, the difference between personal and merely competent work, and how to develop one authentically.
How to develop a personal style in OCR A-Level Art and Design: how a voice emerges from sustained, analytical influence and consistent decisions, the difference between personal and merely competent work, and how OCR rewards a personal, meaningful response.
13 min answer →

How do you present and curate a portfolio so a moderator can read its development and the work earns the presentation marks?

Presenting and curating a portfolio: selecting and sequencing work so the line of enquiry is clear, presenting and annotating pages well, and ensuring all four objectives and the development are visible to a moderator.
How to present and curate a portfolio in OCR A-Level Art and Design: selecting and sequencing work so the line of enquiry is clear, presenting and annotating pages well, and making all four objectives and the development visible to a moderator.
13 min answer →

How do you sustain development and experimentation across a long project, and avoid stalling or playing safe?

Sustaining development and experimentation: keeping a project moving and deepening over time, balancing risk-taking with refinement, and avoiding the common failure of stalling or repeating safe work.
How to sustain development and experimentation in OCR A-Level Art and Design: keeping a project deepening over time, balancing risk with refinement, and avoiding stalling or playing safe, so the work evidences sustained investigation across AO1 and AO2.
13 min answer →